Gov. Christie wants to go down swinging, however. His office made quick noise Friday about an appeal to the state Supreme Court. But that would be a colossal waste of time and money. This has been the wrong fight to fight all along, and it's high time to end it.

Round up the legislators, and get another vote ready on legalizing gay marriage. Christie should remove the collars from his fellow Republicans and tell them it's OK to vote their conscience rather than out of some blind partisan loyalty. That should free up enough support to get the job done, whether that means overturning Christie's standing veto of a legalization bill, or passing fresh legislation.

Then New Jersey can join its neighbors, and the 21st century, and the world of common decency. Let gays marry. Why is that so difficult to do?

Christie has long argued that the people should decide through a referendum, as if that's the best answer to all such debates, even though he'd be loathe to put other decisions to a public vote.

The reality is that Christie's supposed defense of the public majority has been nothing but a copout, an attempt to continue blocking gay marriage while creating an illusion that his primary concern is merely the decision-making process.

What New Jerseyans have to continue to remember is that Christie is trying to run for two offices at the same time - governor of the state, and president of the country - which requires him to satisfy two different constituencies, especially within his own party. New Jersey mostly demands moderation, and on gay marriage the public is highly supportive. Nationally, however, Christie's first goal is to appease the right-wing extremists could make or break his would-be presidential candidacy.

As a result, Christie is doing a lot of dancing and engaging in a lot of hypocrisy. In this instance, he's attempting to be against gay marriage without being too against gay marriage, pretending that he merely wants the smart ol' folks of New Jersey to decide for themselves, even though he rarely gives them that chance.

It's all pointless. Gay marriage not only should be a civil right, but there's simply no logical reason to deny it. Christie isn't putting the people first, he's making his own political ambitions the top priority, and burning taxpayer money to do it. Time to end the charade.